Bulls edge Cheetahs in battle of Loftus

This was a certainly an exciting match, the excitement born of the intensity of the conflict, a changing score and unpredictability.

There was an abundance of good will and energy in the match and the intensity lasted till the final whistle, but the unpredictability came more from errors and turnovers  than from skill and cunning.

The Bulls made fewer mistakes than the Cheetahs who lost the ball to easily at the tackle and made inadequate decisions when they were in promising positions.

Late in the match the Cheetahs' goalkicker, normally the most reliable of men, Niel Marais missed an easy conversion and an easier penalty which would have earned a draw and then right on full time the Cheetahs were penalised and Francois Brummer, also a reliable goalkicker, missed. Had it succeeded it would have blotted out the Cheetahs' bonus point.

One of the strangest sights in the match was seeing the Bulls' scrum destroyed by the Cheetahs – destroyed and humiliated. Scrum dominance was for decades on the other foot. And then, too, in this match it was the Cheetahs who mauled well, not the Bulls. That's not the way rugby has been in Pretoria.

The Bulls changed their usual blue to pink – pink jerseys, shorts and hose – in an attempt to raise R500 000 for cancer.

It was a balmy autumn evening with the temperature starting at 24°C.

The Cheetahs kicked off and attacked first when Super Rugby newboy Nico Lee broke. The Free Staters attacked with zeal and when the Bulls were penalised Marais made it 3-0 after 2 minutes. Tiaan Schoeman levelled the scores five minutes later when it was the Cheetahs turn to be penalised.

In this early period the Cheetahs had far more possession than the Bulls but it was the Bulls who went ahead. A penalty gave the Cheetahs an advancing maul but when they went wide right, their hands were awry and after some chaotic play the Bulls ran out of their 22 with Jesse Kriel racing down the left touchline. Again the hands went wonky but the Bulls won a turnover off Raymond Rhule and from his own half Tian Schoeman kicked a long grubber kick to the right. Travis Ismaiel got the bouncing ball and seemed certain to score till Paul Schoeman hauled him down from behind. A ruck formed at the Cheetahs' line and then Paul Schoeman was  penalised and yellowcarded. The Bulls kicked out for a five-metre line-out, mauled and then bashed till  massive RG Snyman ran onto Rudy Paige's pass and scored a try. 8-3 to the Bulls after 14 minutes.

The Bulls came back on the attack and twice they used kickable penalties to produce attacking line-outs. They bashed and eventually Nic de Jager, a late replacement for Arno Botha scored. Tian Schoeman converted. 15-3 after 22 minutes, and the Bulls seemed the livelier, more committed side.

Then the Cheetahs came back, mauling well and attacking with Paul Schoeman and then Lood de Jager close. Then Sergeal Petersen, unmarked, just got over in the corner in Paige's tackle. Marais converted and it was 15-10 after 32 minutes.

From the kick-off the Cheetahs ran but lost the ball. They got into the Bulls' half and lost the ball. The second time the Bulls gratefully accepted the gift and went wide left where Jamba Ulenga and Serfontein combined well and gave inside to De Jager but Marais caught him at the line. Ulenga got the ball and forced his way over for a try. 20-10 after 35 minutes.

By now the Cheetahs had changed their props, bringing on Charles Marais and Maks van Dyk, two products of Paarl Boys' High, and at the first opportunity they destroyed the Bulls' scrum.

Clayton Blommetjies kicked a brilliant touch-finder for a line-out but the Cheetahs overthrew the line-out and half-time was taken at 20-10.

 The Cheetahs  scored first in the second half, first when Marais kicked a penalty. Then the Cheetahs destroyed another Bulls' scrum and kicked the ball down for a line-out about 12 metres from the Bulls' line. They formed a maul and with great cohesion rushed it down over the Bulls' line for a try credited to Torsten van Jaarsveld. That made it 20-18 to the Bulls after 51 minutes.

 Tian Schoeman kicked a second penalty to make it 23-18 with 23 minutes to go. There was no further scoring in the match but they were 23 minutes of rising intensity building to a frantic finish.

 Man of the Match: Candidates would include Jan Serfontein, the Bulls' halfbacks and RG Snyman as well as Francois Venter, Lood de Jager, Paul Schoeman and our choice, those two props Charles Marais and Nicolaas van Dyk, who gave their team a chance to change the game and come to the brink of victory.

The scorers:

For Bulls:

Tries: Snyman, Jenkins, Ulengo

Cons: Schoeman

Pens: Schoeman 2

For the Cheetahs:

Tries: Petersen, Van Jaarsveld

Cons: Marais

Pens: Marais 2

Yellow card: Paul Schoeman (Cheetahs, 12 – professional foul, kicking the ball out of a ruck)

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.

Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Pieter Labuschagne, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 SP Marais.

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain) , 12 Nico Lee, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Paul Schoeman, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.

Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Nicolaas van Dyk, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Hilton Lobberts, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Fred Zeilinga.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Shuhei Kubo (Japan), Ben Crouse (South Africa)

TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)